Sikh trucker accuses Oregon police of abuse

Some members of the Yuba-Sutter Sikh community are outraged over an alleged racial profiling and beating of a Yuba City Sikh truck driver by an Oregon State Police officer Wednesday. Gurpal Singh Gill, 44, said he was driving a truckload of produce from Stockton to Tacoma, Wash., when he was pulled over by a state police officer, cuffed and then beaten near the city of Roseburg in southwestern Oregon. Gill said he suffered scrapes to his face and shoulders and pain in his lower back from the incident. He also had a ceremonial knife, called a kirpan, taken from him, he said. "This is a gross violation of his fundamental rights," said Harbans Sraon, a fellow Sikh who translated for Gill Friday at the Appeal-Democrat office in Marysville. "The Sikh community is very offended." The Punjabi-American Heritage Society and the Sikh Coalition are considering legal action against the officer for the incident, according to Dr. Jasbir Kang, a member of the Society. [more ]